Looking for park home site in Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, West Sussex.

Hi all -

We're looking to buy a park home on a fully residential (not holiday centre) permanent Park home/static caravan site somewhere in the south/southwest of England in the coming months.
Areas: Dorset, Hampshire, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, West Sussex.

At the moment we're researching to try to shortlist Park home sites in this region that would be in the running for us, and we could do with your help!

I'm 58, wife is 50, and we have one small dog.
Looking for an all year residential site in or near to a town or village (so not way out in the countryside), and not right on the coast.
Definitely do NOT want a site with all sorts of facilities (pool, bar, etc), but just a simple quiet residential site.

The actual static we are after on such a site would be: Minimum 2 beds, ideally 3 beds. Must have parking. Must have, (or allow) a large shed on the pitch. Must be on level or relatively level (ie not steeply sloping) area.
A unit requiring some updating would be fine, but perhaps worth mentioning that anything we do look to buy WILL BE subject to a full static caravan engineers survey before we purchase.

We are cash buyers, with no chain, and we are looking to buy between now and Spring 2019.

If anyone knows of any suitable sites in the areas I've listed, we'd love to hear about them, name, description, location, and even sat nav co-ordinates maybe.

If you have not already done so, read up as much as possible about the legislation surrounding residential park homes – the website parkhome-living.co.uk has some very useful factsheets, and also look on the Gov.uk website (gov.uk/park homes) as they have details of the procedure for buying a Park home, and your rights and responsibilities as a resident.
When it comes to buying a residential park home, a solicitor is a very good idea – there are numerous holiday homes out there being marketed as if they are residential; simply having 12 months occupancy does NOT turn them into legal residences, neither does paying council tax. To get the benefit of the Mobile Homes Act you need to buy on a Protected Site, one which has been licensed by the local council as residential.
You also need to check that whether the Park own or lease the land, as your right to station the home will end when the Park operator’s right to the land ends – so leased land can be very bad news.

Finding a park and a home – there are two ways to go about this.
You can either research Parks and then find out if they have any homes for sale, or you can look for homes for sale and then research the Park they are on.
Both will involve lot of telephoning/emailing and leg work – thanks to the 2013 revision of the Mobile Homes Act, a Park can only talk to you about a home they themselves are selling – they are legally barred from talking to you about any private resales on their Park.
A very high percentage of Park homes are advertised on Rightmove, so you can search by county, make a shortlist - then ask the estate agent whether it is a licensed residential site or not.
You can also try Seekers Park homes which is a speciality seller.
The website parkhome-living.co.uk lists residential parks by area, but a lot of the smaller parks will not have websites, so it will be a case of telephoning or visiting to find out more about site rules, etc..
Having said that, many of the large residential operators (Tingdene, Turners, Berkelyparks, Wyldcrest, etc) have websites and also both large and small Parks, their websites should identify locations, age restrictions and whether dogs are allowed, but this should not be a problem as most parks are now 45 or 50 limit, and a majority allow dogs.
A google search on the postcode of any park will give you a very good idea of the location and how far from the nearest town/village etc.
The facilities you are trying to avoid are usually holiday parks, so not much of a problem there.

If you are looking for a larger home (you mention 3 bedrooms) then you need a newer home, which in the areas you are looking is likely to be quite expensive (Dorset will be over £200,000). As with most things, the better the location, the higher the price.
Pretty much all residential Parks come with a shed on the pitch, but many Parks will not allow additional sheds, and even those that do allow you to change or add sheds you will need to have their permission and also comply with legislation (material and siting) – what you are allowed often depends on the size and layout of the actual pitch.
Having a survey is an extremely good idea – and you may well get a better deal buying an older home that needs updating, rather than one that has been “refurbished” when you do not know exactly what has been done.
Bear in mind that updating the interior is your free choice, making physical changes (other than insulation or repairs) to the exterior will require permission and be subject to existing legislation (separation gap distances, etc.)

Make sure that whatever you are interested in, you check both the site rules and the site licence before committing yourself to make sure you are able and willing to comply with both. The copy of the site rules that you see MUST be the ones that have been deposited with the licensing council in or after 2014 – these will be the only valid site rules.
You need to visit the Parks you are interested in and talk to as many residents as possible – you need to know what life on your possible Park is like, and also what your potential neighbours are like.
Remember that the pitch fee will increase each year by RPI, and that if you sell the home you will only receive 90% of the sale price, with 10% being retained by the buyer for payment to the Park operators.
Read up everything you can find, ask questions, and then you will be confident o making the right choice for you.

If you have not already done so, read up as much as possible about the legislation surrounding residential park homes – the website parkhome-living.co.uk has some very useful factsheets, and also look on the Gov.uk website (gov.uk/park homes) as they have details of the procedure for buying a Park home, and your rights and responsibilities as a resident.
When it comes to buying a residential park home, a solicitor is a very good idea – there are numerous holiday homes out there being marketed as if they are residential; simply having 12 months occupancy does NOT turn them into legal residences, neither does paying council tax. To get the benefit of the Mobile Homes Act you need to buy on a Protected Site, one which has been licensed by the local council as residential.
You also need to check that whether the Park own or lease the land, as your right to station the home will end when the Park operator’s right to the land ends – so leased land can be very bad news.

Finding a park and a home – there are two ways to go about this.
You can either research Parks and then find out if they have any homes for sale, or you can look for homes for sale and then research the Park they are on.
Both will involve lot of telephoning/emailing and leg work – thanks to the 2013 revision of the Mobile Homes Act, a Park can only talk to you about a home they themselves are selling – they are legally barred from talking to you about any private resales on their Park.
A very high percentage of Park homes are advertised on Rightmove, so you can search by county, make a shortlist - then ask the estate agent whether it is a licensed residential site or not.
You can also try Seekers Park homes which is a speciality seller.
The website parkhome-living.co.uk lists residential parks by area, but a lot of the smaller parks will not have websites, so it will be a case of telephoning or visiting to find out more about site rules, etc..
Having said that, many of the large residential operators (Tingdene, Turners, Berkelyparks, Wyldcrest, etc) have websites and also both large and small Parks, their websites should identify locations, age restrictions and whether dogs are allowed, but this should not be a problem as most parks are now 45 or 50 limit, and a majority allow dogs.
A google search on the postcode of any park will give you a very good idea of the location and how far from the nearest town/village etc.
The facilities you are trying to avoid are usually holiday parks, so not much of a problem there.

If you are looking for a larger home (you mention 3 bedrooms) then you need a newer home, which in the areas you are looking is likely to be quite expensive (Dorset will be over £200,000). As with most things, the better the location, the higher the price.
Pretty much all residential Parks come with a shed on the pitch, but many Parks will not allow additional sheds, and even those that do allow you to change or add sheds you will need to have their permission and also comply with legislation (material and siting) – what you are allowed often depends on the size and layout of the actual pitch.
Having a survey is an extremely good idea – and you may well get a better deal buying an older home that needs updating, rather than one that has been “refurbished” when you do not know exactly what has been done.
Bear in mind that updating the interior is your free choice, making physical changes (other than insulation or repairs) to the exterior will require permission and be subject to existing legislation (separation gap distances, etc.)

Make sure that whatever you are interested in, you check both the site rules and the site licence before committing yourself to make sure you are able and willing to comply with both. The copy of the site rules that you see MUST be the ones that have been deposited with the licensing council in or after 2014 – these will be the only valid site rules.
You need to visit the Parks you are interested in and talk to as many residents as possible – you need to know what life on your possible Park is like, and also what your potential neighbours are like.
Remember that the pitch fee will increase each year by RPI, and that if you sell the home you will only receive 90% of the sale price, with 10% being retained by the buyer for payment to the Park operators.
Read up everything you can find, ask questions, and then you will be confident o making the right choice for you.

fhb, Your the person I was referring to in my post on the thread prior to this one. I Knew that you would impart some of your knowledge regarding Park Homes.